Douglas Niles
Encyclopedia
Douglas Niles is a fantasy author
and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance
world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms
novels, and the Top Secret S/I
espionage role-playing game
.
, a suburb of Milwaukee, and his family moved to Nashotah
, a small town to the north, when he was twelve years old. Niles developed an interest in heroic fantasy, as well as wargaming
, and began writing short stories and making short films in high school. Niles attended the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh
, where he majored in speech and minored in English. While there, he met Chris Schroeder, whom he married three years later.
After graduation, Niles began teaching Speech and English at Clinton (Wis.) High School
, about 30 miles away from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
. “One day, one of my students came up and said she had a note to get out of class that afternoon because she was going to be interviewed by People
magazine. Her name was Heidi Gygax. I asked her why People wanted to interview her, and she told me that her father had invented the Dungeons & Dragons
game. Well, I had heard of D&D, but didn’t know that the designer lived so close to me. The next day, Heidi brought me a copy of the original D&D Basic Set
, and two days later, I got some friends together and played my first game. I was the DM.”
magazine. According to Niles, “One day, he told me that TSR
was hiring editors, and I applied for a job. I took the editing test, which consisted of a 14 page manuscript I was supposed to mark up. I only found three things to change. . . and flunked the test. But TSR was also hiring game designers, and so, armed with a half-written novel and some notes from my campaign, I applied for a design job. I went through five interviews, and gradually convinced them that I could do the job.” Niles was hired by TSR in January 1982, as a game designer. “For the first few weeks I reviewed and critiqued outside submissions, and I wasn’t too good at it. I kept pestering my boss, Al Hammack, for a design assignment, and finally he gave me an old brief for a novice-level module, Cult of the Reptile God
, and told me to write it. I completed it in four weeks, and it was published. I don’t know whether they liked it because it was good, or because I did it in only four weeks.” Niles worked on more than just D&D for TSR, “In the summer of 1982, I designed my first game, the Knight Hawks rules for the Star Frontiers
game, with much help from my editor, Steve Winter
.”
Niles produced several modules for the D&D game, including X3 Curse of Xanathon
, B5 Horror on the Hill
, CM1 Test of the Warlords
, and H1 Bloodstone Pass
, and Dragonlance
modules
DL2 Dragons of Flame, DL6 Dragons of Ice, DL9 Dragons of Deceit, and DL11 Dragons of Glory. Niles worked on the Battlesystem
Supplement, Star Frontiers modules SF4 Mission to Alcazzar and SFKH1 Dramune Run, Indiana Jones module IJ2 Raiders of the Lost Ark, the World War II Game, the Sirocco Strategy Game (with Zeb Cook
), and the Endless Quest
books EQ #26 Tarzan and the Well of Slaves and Super EQ #3 Escape From Castle Quarras for TSR. Niles also co-authored The City of Greyhawk
boxed set with Carl Sargent
, for which he designed the 96-page booklet Greyhawk: Gem of the Flanaess. Niles has also written numerous novels, mainly for the Dragonlance series.
Niles wrote the very first Forgotten Realms
novel, Darkwalker on Moonshae
, as well as the subsequent titles in the Moonshae trilogy and two further trilogies in the Forgotten Realms. He has won both the H.G. Wells award and the Origins award for his work in developing adventure games. In 1990, he left TSR to write fantasy fiction.
Fantasy author
The definition of a fantasy author is somewhat diffuse, and a matter of opinion – Jules Verne considered H. G. Wells to be a fantasy author – and there is considerable overlap with science fiction authors and horror fiction authors...
and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance
Dragonlance
Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...
world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
novels, and the Top Secret S/I
Top Secret (role-playing game)
Top Secret is an espionage-themed role-playing game written by Merle M. Rasmussen and first published in 1980 by TSR, Inc.-Top Secret :...
espionage role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
.
Early life
Niles was born in Brookfield, WisconsinBrookfield, Wisconsin
Brookfield is a city located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It had a population of 37,920 in the 2010 census. Brookfield is the second largest city in Waukesha County, and the leading commercial suburb of Milwaukee. The City of Brookfield was formed in 1954 from the Town of...
, a suburb of Milwaukee, and his family moved to Nashotah
Nashotah, Wisconsin
Nashotah is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,266 at the 2000 census.-Education:Nashotah House, a seminary of The Episcopal Church, is in Nashotah.-Geography:...
, a small town to the north, when he was twelve years old. Niles developed an interest in heroic fantasy, as well as wargaming
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
, and began writing short stories and making short films in high school. Niles attended the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is a public university in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers both bachelor and master degrees...
, where he majored in speech and minored in English. While there, he met Chris Schroeder, whom he married three years later.
After graduation, Niles began teaching Speech and English at Clinton (Wis.) High School
Clinton High School (Clinton, Wisconsin)
Clinton High School is a public high school located at 112 Milwaukee Road in Clinton, Wisconsin. Serving approximately 361 students in grades 9-12, it is part of the Clinton Community School District.-External links:***...
, about 30 miles away from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,148 at the 2000 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is southwest of Milwaukee and popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.-History:...
. “One day, one of my students came up and said she had a note to get out of class that afternoon because she was going to be interviewed by People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
magazine. Her name was Heidi Gygax. I asked her why People wanted to interview her, and she told me that her father had invented the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
game. Well, I had heard of D&D, but didn’t know that the designer lived so close to me. The next day, Heidi brought me a copy of the original D&D Basic Set
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set
The original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set boxed set was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1977, and comprised a separate edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, distinct from the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, which was initially published in the same...
, and two days later, I got some friends together and played my first game. I was the DM.”
Career
A few years later, one of the players in Niles' D&D campaign went to work for DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
magazine. According to Niles, “One day, he told me that TSR
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
was hiring editors, and I applied for a job. I took the editing test, which consisted of a 14 page manuscript I was supposed to mark up. I only found three things to change. . . and flunked the test. But TSR was also hiring game designers, and so, armed with a half-written novel and some notes from my campaign, I applied for a design job. I went through five interviews, and gradually convinced them that I could do the job.” Niles was hired by TSR in January 1982, as a game designer. “For the first few weeks I reviewed and critiqued outside submissions, and I wasn’t too good at it. I kept pestering my boss, Al Hammack, for a design assignment, and finally he gave me an old brief for a novice-level module, Cult of the Reptile God
Against the Cult of the Reptile God
Against the Cult of the Reptile God is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting.-Plot:...
, and told me to write it. I completed it in four weeks, and it was published. I don’t know whether they liked it because it was good, or because I did it in only four weeks.” Niles worked on more than just D&D for TSR, “In the summer of 1982, I designed my first game, the Knight Hawks rules for the Star Frontiers
Star Frontiers
Star Frontiers is a science fiction role-playing game produced by TSR beginning in 1982. The game offered a space-opera action-adventure setting.- Setting :...
game, with much help from my editor, Steve Winter
Steve Winter
Steve Winter is a game designer who has worked on numerous products for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game from TSR and later Wizards of the Coast.-Early life:Steve Winter was born in Dubuque, Iowa on December 8, 1957...
.”
Niles produced several modules for the D&D game, including X3 Curse of Xanathon
Curse of Xanathon
Curse of Xanathon is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure module designed by Douglas Niles for use with the D&D Expert Set.-Plot summary:...
, B5 Horror on the Hill
Horror on the Hill
Horror on the Hill is an adventure module published by TSR, Inc. in 1983, for the Basic Rules of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Its product designation was TSR 9078...
, CM1 Test of the Warlords
Test of the Warlords
Test of the Warlords is a 1984 adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Its associated code is CM1 and is TSR's product number 9117. The adventure takes place in Norworld, which is located in the north east corner of the Known World on Mystara...
, and H1 Bloodstone Pass
Bloodstone Pass
H1 Bloodstone Pass is an adventure module for the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was written by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson and published by TSR, Inc., in 1985...
, and Dragonlance
Dragonlance
Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...
modules
Dragonlance modules (DL series)
The DL Dragonlance modules are a series of adventures and some supplementary material for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. These modules along with the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy of novels, which follow one possible adventure series through the modules, were the first...
DL2 Dragons of Flame, DL6 Dragons of Ice, DL9 Dragons of Deceit, and DL11 Dragons of Glory. Niles worked on the Battlesystem
Battlesystem
Battlesystem is a tabletop miniature wargame designed as a supplement for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It was first released in 1985, compatible with either Advanced Dungeons & Dragons or the Basic / Expert Dungeons & Dragons...
Supplement, Star Frontiers modules SF4 Mission to Alcazzar and SFKH1 Dramune Run, Indiana Jones module IJ2 Raiders of the Lost Ark, the World War II Game, the Sirocco Strategy Game (with Zeb Cook
David Cook (game designer)
David "Zeb" Cook is an American game designer best known for his work at TSR, Inc., where he was employed for over fifteen years.-Early life:...
), and the Endless Quest
Endless Quest
The Endless Quest books were two series of gamebooks released by TSR. These books were the result of an Educational department established by TSR to develop curriculum programs for reading, math, history, and problem solving....
books EQ #26 Tarzan and the Well of Slaves and Super EQ #3 Escape From Castle Quarras for TSR. Niles also co-authored The City of Greyhawk
The City of Greyhawk
The City of Greyhawk is an boxed set accessory published in 1989 for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
boxed set with Carl Sargent
Carl Sargent
Carl L. Sargent is a British author of several roleplaying game-based products and novels.-Early career:...
, for which he designed the 96-page booklet Greyhawk: Gem of the Flanaess. Niles has also written numerous novels, mainly for the Dragonlance series.
Niles wrote the very first Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
novel, Darkwalker on Moonshae
Darkwalker on Moonshae
Darkwalker on Moonshae is a fantasy novel by Douglas Niles, set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
, as well as the subsequent titles in the Moonshae trilogy and two further trilogies in the Forgotten Realms. He has won both the H.G. Wells award and the Origins award for his work in developing adventure games. In 1990, he left TSR to write fantasy fiction.
Personal life
Niles currently resides in Delavan, Wisconsin with his wife, Christine, and two Bouviets, Reggie and Stella. They have two children, Allison and David. Niles enjoys playing his guitar, cooking, and visiting with family.Novels
- Horror on the Hill (1983)
- Tarzan and the Well of Slaves (1985)
- Winds of Change (1992)
- The Rod of Seven Parts (1996)
- The Odyssey of Gilthanas (1999) (with Steve MillerSteve Miller (game designer)Steve Miller is a game designer and editor who has worked on a number of products for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game from Wizards of the Coast, and other role-playing games.-Early life and education:...
) - War of the Worlds: New MillenniumWar of the Worlds: New MillenniumWar of the Worlds: New Millennium is a science fiction novel by Douglas Niles, released in 2005 by Tor Books.After the most recent unmanned mission to Mars inexplicably fails, interest in the Red Planet is still high. The whole world watches as a bright spot of light appears daily on the Martian...
(2005) - MacArthur's War: A Novel of the Invasion of Japan (2007) (with Michael DobsonMichael Dobson (author)Michael S. Dobson is an American author in the fields of Business , Alternate History novels and Role-playing game adventures .-Early life:At a young age, Dobson's family moved from North Carolina to Germany; his father...
) - Top Secret/S.I. Adminstrators Guide TSR, Inc 1987
"Fox" series
- Fox on the RhineFox on the RhineFox on the Rhine is a 2000 alternate history novel written by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson. It details a course of events over late 1944 that resulted from Adolf Hitler's death in the July 20 plot and Field-Marshal Erwin Rommel's survival of the crackdown.-Plot summary:The book begins on July...
(2000) (with Michael Dobson) - Fox at the FrontFox at the FrontFox at the Front is a 2003 alternate history novel written by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson. It is a sequel to the 2000 novel Fox on the Rhine.-Plot summary:...
(2003) (with Michael Dobson)
Watershed
- A Breach in the Watershed (1995)
- Darkenheight (1996)
- War of Three Waters (1997)
Seven Circles
- Circle at Center (2000)
- World Fall (2001)
- The Goddess Worldweaver (2003)
Dragonlance
- Dragons of Glory (1986) with Margaret WeisMargaret WeisMargaret Edith Weis is a fantasy novelist who, along with Tracy Hickman, is one of the original creators of the Dragonlance game world and has written numerous novels and short stories set in fantastic worlds.-Early life:Margaret Weis was born in 1948 in Independence, Missouri, and later attended...
- Lords of Doom (1986)
- Dragons of Triumph (1986)
Forgotten Realms : The Moonshae Trilogy
- Darkwalker on MoonshaeDarkwalker on MoonshaeDarkwalker on Moonshae is a fantasy novel by Douglas Niles, set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
(1987) - Black Wizards (1988)
- Darkwell (1989)
Forgotten Realms : Maztica Trilogy
- Viperhand (1989)
- Ironhelm (1990)
- Feathered Dragon (1991)
Forgotten Realms : Druidhome
- Prophet of Moonshae (1992)
- The Coral Kingdom (1992)
- The Druid Queen (1993)
First Quest
- Pawns Prevail (1995)
- Suitors Duel (1995)
- Immortal Game (1996) ISBN 078690478X
Dragonlance : Icewall
- The Messenger (2001)
- The Golden Orb (2001)
- Winterheim (2003)
Dragonlance : Rise of Solamnia
- Lord Of The Rose (2005)
- The Crown and Sword (2006)
- The Measure and the Truth (2007)
Dragonlance : Dwarf Home
- The Secret of Pax Tharkas (2007)
- Heir of Kayolin (2008)
- The Fate of Thorbardin (2009)
External links
- Pen & Paper listing for Douglas Niles
- A Talk With Douglas Niles - A 30th Anniversary Interview